Sunday, December 9, 2012

In the last couple of years that Red Dot Diva got to know Mashi aka Wendy Chew, she has seen the local chibi artist and illustrator's fandom increase from strength to strength.

Her sexy-cute artwork now exhibits a growing sense of mischievous confidence and during the recent STGCC, she knew of many collectors who sought her out at the Invasion / 8-Bit Media booth for sketches. Mashi also had her own signing schedule at the Wall of Fame, which says a lot for the profile of a local artist.

Not contented with just drawings, Mashi had also showcased a sample of her very first vinyl toy produced by Vinyl-on-Vinyl at STGCC 2012. If you were at STGCC that weekend, you might probably have been one of those who fell in love with the cute voluptuous bee-lady called Honnie (see pic above).

Thursday, August 30, 2012

The frenzy at pop-culture and comic conventions is not just about the shared passion in geekdom. It is also the uncontainable google-eyed glee at being able to shop for all those limited edition items and exclusives!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

It is about time that talented local and regional comic artists given their chance to shine.

Did anyone notice that with each bout of STGCC guest announcement, there has been an indication that the spotlight will be on Asian artists this year? There also seems to be a stronger, more united support from the Asian artists involved with this year's event, and Red Dot Diva thinks it is wonderful to see this happening.

Sure, well-known creators from USA and UK, like Marvel artist Mark Brooks, creator of the Tokidoki brand Simone Legno, toy designer/ street artist Tristan Eaton, UK-based comic artist Andie Tong and the recently announced addition, prominent writer Andy Diggle, will all be attending STGCC 2012. But it is even more exciting to see the number of Asian artists getting ready to flock to Red Dot Island on the weekend of 1-2 September, armed with printed sketchbooks, an enviable resume and a ready fanbase.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

As most comic fans knew in advance about DC artists Nicola Scott and Ardian Syaf's store appearance at GnB Comics, visiting Rochor Centre early in the morning seemed to be the majority's FCBD strategy.

Red Dot Diva was actually torn between heading to Kinokuniya first and then down to GnB. But not knowing if one would be able to grab some time with Nicola and Ardian before their allotted signing sessions, became the primary decision-making factor. Also, she wasn't too keen to stay out the entire day for their later appearance at the Cathay.

Most of the geeks also expected the larger book store, Kinokuniya to have been able to stock up more than ample stocks of comics. But unfortunately, when Red Dot Diva and a small group of comic fans were at the flagship Ngee Ann City store before 12pm, all the bundled packs for members (20 comics!! plus a box of Thor Heroclix) were GONE. :(

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is approaching and more details have surfaced from this year's participating stores.

After a successful FCBD debut last year, Kinokuniya returns as one of the stores involved in this Saturday's events. And they have made a couple of cool announcements.

Firstly, privilege card members will be able to get their stack of free comics when they produce their membership card at the Kinokuniya's Orchard Road flagship store! (Don't be greedy, Red Dot Diva warns. One set for each member only!) Also, specially for members, there is a 20% discount going on for all comics purchased!

In addition, Kinokuniya has added a more family-friendly theme by inviting the local Star Wars 501st Legion for a store appearance. What better way to kickstart your children's geek cred than by getting them to meet Star Wars characters??

New to the FCBD fray this year is Paradigm Infinitum (PI) - the #1 Board & Tabletop Games store in Singapore! The shop is located at #03-01 of Midpoint Orchard, just a hop away from Kinokuniya. Head to PI to help them celebrate the soft launch of their new graphic novels section. They will be giving all store visitors 10 free comics! The freebies may not be the official FCBD comic releases but why would anyone turn down some cool comics for free?!?

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Just in perfect timing too, Red Dot Diva notes. This weekend is the start of the super long stretch of year-end school holidays for the kids and teenagers here, so she expects that the event will attract thousands of people.

The largest and most popular book festival on Red Dot Island will continue to showcase a wide and varied collection of books and publishers from around Asia. There will be English and Chinese titles, assessment books, music, stationery and gifts offered at great prices during the fair, as well as panels, appearances by local and overseas authors and on-stage performances.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

The Elseworlds booth at STGCC 2011 started off as a humble idea to offer support to the convention by hosting Marvel artist Mico Suayan and local indie chibi artist Wendy Chew (aka Mashi).

The booth later became the artistic umbrella for two more Marvel guest artists who hailed from the Philippines - Stephen Segovia and Carlo Pagulayan. And with that added number of talents, Elseworlds became one of the "must-stops" for comics or graphic arts fans at the convention.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Red Dot Diva says fans should check out Mico Suayan's limited edition sketchbook which will be launched at STGCC!

Mico, who is from the Philippines, had worked on a popular run of Marvel's "Moon Knight" series in 2007. He has since followed up with more impressive artwork with the label, including that for "Thor" and "Rage of Thor".

One can find Mico stationed mostly at Elseworld's booth at #E22. Only 500 copies of his sketchbooks are available, and one can get him to sign the books at the booth. Each book costs SGD 30.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Red Dot Diva suspected that there were probably many tipsy geeks nursing a gaming hangover last Sunday. Or maybe they were pious geeks who went to religious services in search of their souls. Or it could just be that a bunch of them got haplessly sucked into The Wormhole of Family Commitments.

'Coz from what Red Dot Diva heard, it was pretty quiet on Day 2 of Comic Art Show 2011.

But the real reason could just very well be that Red Dot Diva and her glittery aura wasn't there to help entice unsuspecting folks. She was busy that morning too -- catching up on her beauty sleep.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Set in the arty part of the Bras Basah-Selegie area, Wilkie Edge was a nice quiet spot to host an indie-styled Comic Art Show.

Red Dot Diva strolled in about 2 pm and immediately spotted a couple of familiar faces. To her surprise, several art pieces were already sold, leaving empty spaces on the exhibition wall! And a few more which were still on the wall, were already tagged with orange "SOLD" stickers. Wow.

This was just 4 hours into the opening of the exhibition. A great start to a local show focused on comic art!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Marvel artist Harvey Tolibao had decided to extend his stay in Red Dot Island yet again. And on his last night here, he met up with some local comic geeks for a casual dinner at a rowdy pasta diner.

Local chibi/ sketch artist Wendy Chew aka Mashi was invited along so that she could get some tips from an artist who has had his work published and distributed internationally. Red Dot Diva reported that, as usual, there was much chat about comics and art.

And everyone was commenting on how Harvey was *always* drawing, regardless of where he was at. He also started drawing at the dinner table while the group was waiting for dinner to be served!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

It was at STGCC 2010 when Red Dot Diva first stumbled upon Mashi’s booth at Artists’ Alley.

The brilliantly-coloured booth named “Pin-Up Gals” was manned by perky-looking Mashi and friend, and was surrounded by lots of cartoony pop-art images.

At first glance, Red Dot Diva thought Mashi’s artwork was all feminine-sweet, sugar and spice. Upon closer look however, she was delighted to note that some of them had a deliciously fair amount of nudity, blood and spatter. The incongruous mix of images was superb to behold.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Remember the time back in January 1 and 2, 2011 when a few comic/ pop-culture geeks gathered with an aim to tire out Harvey Tolibao's quick, arty fingers at Wilkie Edge?

Well... Red Dot Diva says, there will be ROUND TWO!

Organized by the same folks (who do so truly love and appreciate talented artists), the indie event called Crossover: Comic Art Show 2011 will be held at Wilkie Edge this month on July 30 and 31 from 11 am to 9 pm.